JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Buried in the graves are their potential and some of their names we may never know. They are victims of the opioid crisis.
"Many of these people, they got hooked and addicted because of prescriptions first," said former Jacksonville city councilman Bill Gulliford. "We have lost some great people in this town and it is all hush. You don't see those obituaries reading they died of an overdose."
Since the late 1990s, opioid overdoses have skyrocketed. In Duval County, there were 369 opioid overdose deaths between 1999 and 2017.
Gulliford blames drug manufacturers.
"They knew that this stuff is highly addictive and they still promoted it," he said.
This week, an Oklahoma court ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million in an opioid trial. While the company is expected to appeal, Gulliford said it will pave the way for other lawsuits like the one Jacksonville has pending.
"I think it is a fair verdict when you look at this opioid tragedy and what it has done to families," he said.
During his tenure on the Jacksonville City Council, Gulliford spearheaded the effort to sue big pharma. He is no longer on City Council but said the lawsuit is very much alive.
"It is going to take some time, but it is still pending," Gulliford said.
In 2017, as an attempt to stem the tide, Gulliford help launched Project Save Lives at local emergency rooms.
He said it is working.
"Over the whole span of the program, we have only lost two people," he said.
It is a simple approach to put an end to the revolving door where an addict comes back to the emergency room every time there is an overdoes.
Gulliford said under the program drug users in the emergency room are identified and they're steered to rehabilitation treatment immediately.
While he no longer serves on the Jacksonville City Council, Gulliford is still in the fight against this dangerous drug.
"They've created a heck of a crisis and we are seeing the effects of it," he said.
Recently, he served on a statewide task force addressing the issue. This week he is meeting with Florida's Attorney General to discuss the effectiveness of Project Save Lives and how it can be implemented statewide.